The Southland Conference baseball tournament is the conference championship tournament in baseball for the

Southland Conference The Southland Conference, abbreviated as SLC, is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the South Central United States (specifically Texas and Louisiana). It participates in the NCAA's Division I for all sports; for football, it pa ...

. The winner of the tournament receives the conference's automatic bid to the

NCAA Division I baseball tournament The NCAA Division I Baseball Championship is held each year from May through June and features 64 college baseball teams in the United States, culminating in the eight-team Men's College World Series at Charles Schwab Field Omaha in Omaha, Nebr ...

Tournament

The Southland Conference Baseball Tournament is a

double-elimination tournament A double-elimination tournament is a type of elimination tournament competition in which a participant ceases to be eligible to win the tournament's championship upon having lost ''two'' games or matches. It stands in contrast to a single-elimina ...

held annually at various locations in the

region. Before the departure of five members following the 2021 season, the eight teams with the best conference record at the end of the regular season earned berths in the tournament. Starting in 2022, all conference members will participate in the tournament (unless banned due to NCAA sanctions). The winner receives an automatic bid to the

. Other teams have to hope for an at-large bid.

History

The Southland Conference tournament began in 1964. From 1964 through 1966 the tournament consisted of three teams. In 1967 and 1968 the tournament expanded to a four-team

. This was all that constituted conference play for those seasons. From 1969 until 1992, the Southland Conference did not have a baseball tournament. In some seasons, a championship series was held between division champions. In 1993, the conference began holding a baseball tournament again. From 1993 through 1995, the tournament was a four team double-elimination tournament. In 1996, it expanded to become a six team double-elimination tournament and remained that way until 2007. In 2008, the tournament once again expanded and became an eight team double-elimination tournament. In 2012, two brackets of four teams were added in a double-elimination format. The winner of each bracket plays in a championship game. This facilitates a television broadcast of the final. After five schools left the conference following the 2021 season, the tournament format was changed for 2022. The top two seeds will host double-elimination tournaments that each involve four teams. The winner from each site will advance to a best-of-3 final hosted by the top surviving seed. Starting in 2023, the event will move to

Joe Miller Ballpark Joe Miller Ballpark is a baseball venue in Lake Charles, Louisiana, United States. It is home to the McNeese State Cowboys baseball team of the NCAA Division I Southland Conference. Opened in 1965, the venue has a capacity of 2,000 spectators. ...

on the campus of

McNeese State University McNeese State University is a public university in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Founded in 1939 as Lake Charles Junior College, it was renamed McNeese Junior College after John McNeese, an early local educator. The present name was adopted in 1970. ...

Lake Charles, Louisiana Lake Charles (French: ''Lac Charles'') is the fifth-largest incorporated city in the U.S. state of Louisiana, and the parish seat of Calcasieu Parish, located on Lake Charles, Prien Lake, and the Calcasieu River. Founded in 1861 in Calcasieu ...

, reportedly as part of a deal that kept McNeese in the Southland after it had been courted by

Conference USA Conference USA (C-USA or CUSA) is an intercollegiate athletic conference whose current member institutions are located within the Southern United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. C-USA's offices are l ...

and nearly joined the

Western Athletic Conference The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) is an NCAA Division I conference. The WAC covers a broad expanse of the western United States with member institutions located in Arizona, California, New Mexico, Utah, Washington (state), Washington, and Texa ...

. The agreement with McNeese initially runs for four years, with McNeese having the right of first refusal to continue as host after 2026. The future tournament format has not yet been announced.

Champions

By year

* McNeese dropped "State" from its athletic branding after the 2019 season. * Nicholls dropped "State" from its athletic branding after the 2018 season.

By school

''Updated through 2021 Tournament.'' *''Italics'' indicate that the program is no longer a Southland member.

External links

2015 Southland Conference Baseball Media Guide

References

{{NCAABaseballTournaments